Government taking steps to restore peace in Kashmir: Jaitley

With the security forces having an upper hand in the Kashmir Valley, the government is taking all steps to ensure a return of normalcy to the state, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday.

"There was a situation (in the valley) when civil disobedience was at its peak. There were thousands of stone-pelters. Terrorists were picking their targets as they liked... Hurriyat would give a call whenever they liked and paralyse everything," Jaitley said.

"Today, the situation has changed. Security forces have an upper hand. It has become difficult for stone-pelters to gather a crowd. The Hurriyat has been exposed," he said.

"The government policy is to bring peace there (Jammu and Kashmir)... The government works on the basis of what steps are supposed to be taken to bring normalcy back to the valley."

The Minister said the central government, through its interlocutor, intends to engage with all who want to talk to resolve the Kashmir issue.

"In a situation like this, the government through its new initiative is engaging with those who want to talk. We are trying to bring back normalcy. What efforts are to be made will be decided by our special representative and the state government," he said.

The Centre on October 24 appointed former Intelligence Bureau Director Dineshwar Sharma as its interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir.

--IANS

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